


Hello, Joshua

by ImperfectOrphanage



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2018-09-08 14:44:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8849044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperfectOrphanage/pseuds/ImperfectOrphanage
Summary: A short ficlet on how being a Composer is the loneliest position in the world.





	

“Hello, Joshua!” Neku says as they meet up at Hachiko just weeks after the Game. They share a meal and a laugh as Neku is full of ideas for his future.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku says as he graduates from High School with high marks and a full scholarship to one of the universities in Shibuya. He celebrates with his friends, including Joshua, and at the end of the night he’s drunk enough to try and kiss the Composer. It doesn’t happen.

“Hello, Joshua!” Neku says as he introduces his girlfriend. She’s a petite thing with black hair and crinkles around her mouth from smiling. If Joshua looks, he can see the same crinkles on Neku’s face, too.

“Hello, Joshua!” Neku says at the reception of his wedding. Joshua had been the best man and one of the primary supporters of the wedding, giving Neku whatever he desired for his nuptials. He wanted his friend to be happy on his special day.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku says, holding a squirming, pink monster in his arms. He’s far too small to be practical and the bright eyes of the child can _see_. He looks up into Joshua’s face and let’s out a laugh that the nurses say isn’t possible for a newborn. Joshua ends up watching over the baby and his mother long after Neku has fallen asleep at her bedside.

“Hello, Joshua!” Neku says as he welcomes his now much younger friend into his home. Joshua is surprised to find it rather well furnished, and now there are two children and a very pregnant wife. Neku tells him he hates how his job keeps them from meeting, but someday soon he’ll get that promotion and he’ll have more time to hang out.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku sighs, his hands in his lap and his head drooping from sadness. His daughter-the middle child-had become ill and it wasn’t good. Joshua stays by his side while they watch the little four-year-old take her last breath. He promises Neku to make sure her soul goes somewhere nice, and he takes the little child by the hand to lead her to heaven.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku says, his voice weary with work and worry. He sits at a desk in the middle of an empty office building with a stack of paper and a sigh on his lips. There was always too much. He thinks about suicide and Joshua holds him until the thoughts subside.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku sounds gruff, his face wrinkled and his hair turning a gentle white. He still smiles despite his wife being frail and his children rarely coming home. Joshua can see the pain in Neku’s eyes and he tries to help his friend up the stairs to his office on more than one occasion.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku whispers, his hand curled around his wife’s. She’s dying and he knows it and Joshua can see the tenuous string of life snap as the monitors begin to wail. He holds Neku from behind as he sobs and squeezes his wife’s thin fingers.

“Hello, Joshua,” Neku’s voice is growing weaker, and he smiles up from the hospital bed with his hand sliding into the glow of the Composer’s fingers. The nurses think he’s gone senile and his children and grandchildren were ushered from the room as visiting hours were over. It was dark outside and the heart monitor beeps quietly as blue eyes ringed with age stare up at Joshua. The Composer nods once and his fingers curl around Neku’s as the old man’s eyes slide shut.

“Goodbye, Neku,” Joshua says, ignoring the tears in his eyes.


End file.
